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Answering Howard

My beloved Eagles pulled off an impressive win Sunday against the formidable San Diego Chargers. Owing to family and church commitments, I could not watch the game on television, but could hear the excellent play-by-play offered by the legendary Merrill Reese on radio.

Unfortunately, the Eagles NFL broadcasts are carried in Philadelphia by the same radio station that offers the waning days of the Howard Stern Show...and if I forget to twist the dial before turning off my car on Sunday afternoon, I am greeted by the heavily-processed, droning voice of the aging Stern as I start my car on Monday morning.

Here of late, I understand, Howard has ramped up his on-air attacks against religion and the faithful. I was the unfortunate witness to such a tirade as I turned the ignition key this morning. There was nothing new in today's diatribe; Stern made the usual, indefensible connections between terrorists and Christians, politicians and televangelists. But today's clueless lecture is in need of an answer, and--since the only representatives of the church Stern will tolerate on his air are the "God Hates Fags" crowd--I'd like to use this space to answer the agnostic "shock jock's" untenable monologue.

Christianity is not the antithesis to science, Howard. Indeed: many of the more learned of biologists, archeologists, and chemists are today, or one day will be, believers. Why? Mostly due to their awe and respect for the irreducable complexity of life. The more one knows about how things really work, the closer one comes to what I call the "Sound of Music" rule--remember the song the Captain sang to Maria in the gazebo? "Nothing comes from nothing...nothing ever could." Such is reality, here on planet Earth. Yes, Howard...the "fairy tales" you charge Christians with believing are--in the final analysis--anchored in the kind of Truth that makes the scientific theories of man (i.e. evolution) childish and primitive by comparison.

Finally this, Mr. Stern. The Jesus Christ you mock and ridicule does not make the kind of promises you infer. Only the foolish would ever read His words and derive the belief that Jesus will solve all your problems for you, and "make everything better." Such is not the claim of Franklin Graham, or any other credible minister of the Gospel. Jesus Christ solves only one problem for us, and it's "the big one": the sin that would separate us from our God for all eternity. Christ died, and rose from that tomb, to overcome sin and death for all who would believe, and put their trust in Him--and that includes you, Howard.

And no, Jesus won't "fix" all of your problems, in fact: your life in Christ will probably become even more difficult, in many ways. But the absolute certainty of living a life full of purpose will give you the strength to endure anything the world can throw your way. Faith is not a crutch, it's a fresh set of legs...provided as a free gift to those who want to run the human race with endurance, on a straight path to finishing strong. And Mr. Stern, that's no "fairy tale"...it's a promise...for the "king of all media," from the King of all creation.